Itching to return to some one-on-one competition, Emory rising junior John Nguyen recently decided he wanted to give boxing a try.

En route to graduating from Meadowcreek, Nguyen was a member of the wrestling team and wrestled at 125 pounds.

“When I wrestled in high school, I was pretty competitive and now I’m looking to do something in college,” Nguyen said.

“Boxing really gets you in shape but it also challenges you because it’s a man-to-man sport. I love it because you get to compete against somebody else.”

To accomplish his new goal, Nguyen is training at Paul Murphy Boxing Club four times a week with Alain Felipe.

“I saw this gym had the best reputation,” Nguyen said. “One of my friends recommended me to this place and he said they hold two tournaments every year. They also train some pros and great amateurs at this gym.”

“You got a lot of good pros in here like Mike Seals, Gift Cole Chiori and Cam Springer,” owner and trainer Bert Wells said. “With him being here in this gym, he can actually learn and pick up a lot.”

Seals, a light heavyweight, is 18-0 with 14 knockouts and is the current WBC USNBC, IBS and IBU title holder. Chiori is a middleweight with a 9-0 record and seven knockouts. The featherweight Springer is 2-0.

Nguyen, a southpaw, wants to compete as a light welterweight (140 pounds).

“I’ve only been at it a couple of weeks but I definitely want to continue,” said Nguyen, who is a business major. “I definitely am looking forward to competing.”

“When you got a lot of history and guys who you can watch as they train, it helps the guys who are coming in,” Wells said. “They can see a lot of great fighters train then it gets in their blood and they are here forever.”

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